


enemies of enemies

by Zerrat



Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: Gen, Mid-Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 10:05:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2808515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerrat/pseuds/Zerrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lightning knows it had been her life or theirs, but the blood of her comrades is still on her hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	enemies of enemies

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://zerrat.tumblr.com/post/82480314045/how-about-17-and-fang-lightning) for the prompt, "Fang, Lightning, blood".

The sunsets of Palumpolum were meant to be one of the more beautiful sights on Cocoon - right up there with Bodhum's beaches, the Whitewood, and Eden lit up like a galaxy of neon at night. Thanks to her shifts with the Corps, Lightning had watched these golden sunsets a dozen times before, standing guard as Phoenix had dimmed and shifted axis. 

She'd even allowed herself to relax back then, enjoying the odd free moment with the other squad members. Even though Amodar had caught them and told them all to get back to work, Lightning remembered there had been laughter in his voice. 

Those times had been simple. There hadn't been an acrid stench of smoke in the air, or the sounds of gunfire and explosion in the distance. There sure as hell hadn't been a brand, throbbing hot on her chest.

Back then, the thought that the Guardian Corps could be her enemy had never crossed her mind. Considering the ambush she'd led Hope into, how she'd seen Corps and PSICOM soldiers aligned in purpose...

It was so difficult to keep her mind on point, to assure herself that a target really was just a target. With PSICOM, it had been impersonal, there had been an undeniable, sanity-preserving distance between them. 

With every Corps soldier she cut down, Lightning couldn't help but wonder - beneath those masks, had she fought beside them? Passed by them in the barracks? She didn't want to ask herself if that man she'd just slain had a wife he wouldn't be coming back home to, or if that woman had a sister she was fighting to protect.

Lightning clenched her teeth, lowering her gaze from the Palumpolum sunset in disgust. Why did she _care_? She knew it had been her life or theirs - not that it mattered at all. Not with her sister nothing but a crystal statue and Lightning's own time ticking inexorably down. 

"Dark thoughts won't change a thing," Fang said, from where she reclined against the wall. In spite of her seeming relaxation, Lightning wasn't about to mistake it for lack of awareness. The woman was alert - impossibly so. 

"You're not wrong," Lightning said haltingly, looking back over her shoulder. She didn't offer Fang anything else. The last thing she wanted was _conversation_.

Fang was quiet for a long moment, drumming her fingernails in a restless pattern on the haft of her lance. 

"Does it bother you?" she finally asked, and from the undercurrent of tension in her voice, Lightning hardly needed to ask her to specify. In the distance, she could hear gunfire and the steady drone of PSICOM propaganda. Her jaw tightened. 

No matter how quickly Lightning had come to care for Hope, she wasn't the trusting type. Did Fang really thing she was going to open up and have a heart to heart with her? 

Worse, the woman was a _Pulsian._ A Pulsian from the War of Transgression, and that gave Lightning pause. Whatever blood there was on Lightning's hands now, Fang had done far worse. 

The prospect didn't scare her - not the way it should have. The enemy of her new enemies - _old comrades_ \- was her friend. It was just that simple, and yet it was no easier to swallow. 

"Of course it bothers me," Lightning said, and she wet her lips. "I'm human."

Given all the carnage she'd wrought, it felt like a lie. 

Fang's answering smile was mirthless and cold, as though she was recalling a bitter memory. "We're not human, Lightning. Best to get used to it."

The woman pushed herself up from the wall, apparently done with resting for now. Lightning watched Fang's back for a few moments, frowning. No matter how resigned Fang's words had been, there was an undercurrent of true loathing in her voice. 

It was honesty, and it was then that Lightning began to understand Fang.


End file.
